Mayor Pete, when he was made Transportation Secretary, proudly announced that he has been a transportation enthusiast since he was a kid. Speaking on the matter, he said that he’s had “a personal love of transportation ever since childhood.” He then added that “I know that in this administration I will at best aspire to be the second biggest train enthusiast around.” Watch that here:
Transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg says he's had "a personal love of transportation ever since childhood…though I know that in this administration I will at best aspire to be the second biggest train enthusiast around." https://t.co/Htk1eGXy8t pic.twitter.com/tX48fXdEoO
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 16, 2020
Well, despite being a train enthusiast, Mayor Pete’s response to the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio was quite lackluster. In fact, he didn’t even visit the community until after former President Donald Trump visited, providing water bottles and buying many residents in the town McDonald’s.
And so, though Mayor Pete has now finally visited the stricken community, it took him far too long to do so in the eyes of most Americans. That’s why a co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski, ripped into Mayor Pete for not visiting the town sooner.
Speaking on the matter, Brzezinski said “The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, did make it clear he should have gone there sooner. Let’s put a pin on that. He should have gone there sooner, and the White House should have done a better job, even though they are in a major transatlantic moment dealing with the future of the safety of the world.”
Continuing, she went on to say “The people of East Palestine need to feel seen and heard, and I think that Pete Buttigieg is taking it on board that he needs to go there and do that. These are people who, right now, are very uncertain about their health and the future of their town.”
Then, wrapping up her criticism of the missing mayor, she said “It is definitely a little bit of a bump for the White House to not make sure they shined a big light on what was happening there and, hopefully, in the days and weeks to come, they’ll be able to do that.”
Watch that here:
That anti-Mayor Pete attitude is a big change of pace for “Morning Joe’s” Mika, as she tweeted in 2019 that Mayor Pete was the “real deal.” In her words at the time, “Mayor Pete — I hear even from Republicans that he’s the one. He is the real deal. Watch this candidate @PeteButtigieg Watch him. #makeamericaGOODagain“.
Mayor Pete — I hear even from Republicans that he’s the one. He is the real deal. Watch this candidate @PeteButtigieg Watch him. #makeamericaGOODagain
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) April 14, 2019
Based on this crisis and his failed response to it, however, Mayor Pete does not appear to be the “real deal”. Instead, he dodged the crisis and then refused to answer questions about the reason for the delay in his visit, as can be seen in this video out of East Palestine:
Pete Buttigieg is asked by @sav_says_ why it took him 3 weeks to come to East Palestine
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 23, 2023
Featured image credit: screenshot from embedded Twitter video of Pete Buttigieg being questioned by a reporter
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